Paul Scholes should have scored from 10 yards out. And then, on 66 minutes, Mustoe again cleared off the line from a well-timed Silvestre header.

Ferguson threw on Van Nistelrooy, Giggs and Dwight Yorke - who has been linked to a move to Boro - but none of them could spark the last-gasp heroics that lifted United past Aston Villa in round three.

Instead, the golden chances fell to Middlesbrough.

We should have won that game, we know
that and I think everyone else knows that

Sir Alex Ferguson

And when Blanc misjudged a Mark Crossley goal kick, inviting Whelan to slot past Barthez and Campbell headed home five minutes later, there was to be no late reprieve for Manchester United.

For Boro, the only dampening note - on a day when many games were lost to waterlogged pitches - was the game's attendance of only 17,624.

This paltry support may not have impressed would-be signee Yorke and reflects badly on the comeptition as a whole.